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All my life I've had poop problems...constant constipation and very difficult movements. I'm surprised I never ended up with any major hemorrhoids. My family, especially my dad who has had a myriad of health issues (hodgkin's disease being the first one), has always spoken openly about poop problems since they've been so prevalent. Since going (somewhat) primal, I haven't really noticed any change in my pooping patterns. I still don't poop every day (and I know that some people just don't), and it's still taking a lot of effort to complete the task.

Stealth poops...that's what I call those perfect ones that leave no evidence on you...haha!!!

Around here we celebrate every poop with a high-5. Just because it's worth celebrating.

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As much as I hate medical procedures, my uterus already has two strikes against it, and I always said a third strike would doom it. I'm hesitant for mostly silly reasons...my uterus did such an awesome job growing and birthing my children, and I was really hoping to eventually be an elderly cadaver with her uterus still present--almost unheard of, apparently!

that's not silly, i don't think any sane person really WANTS to have surgery. I was told yrs ago that hysterectomy was the only thing that could fix me - I sought out every alternative. I didn't want to be cut. I wanted to remain whole. I went thru many drs. Finally I found one I trusted & by that point, I probably would have had surgery no matter what b/c my quality of life had really taken a downturn, but luckily it was done by 2 drs I really trusted. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I feel very grateful that I'm living in times where I didn't have to have a big abdominal cut & recover for 6 wks. It was much much quicker than that, only 4 wks off the bike. I was active 2 days after surgery.

It would have been nicer if there had been a non-surgical solution but life without a crippling period is wonderful.

and now -- back to poop

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I forgot to mention that I also had a hysterectomy (TAH) because I had several fibroids and wasn't planning on reproducing anyway. It was done in Feb. of 2008 and it was the best thing that's ever happened to me. I'm 36 now, don't have to plan my life around that monthly BS, and now I'm finally starting to get rid of the weight that has plagued me for the past 10+ years.

On the subject of poop, though, there has been a side effect from the hysterectomy: a minor rectocele. This makes it even more difficult than before to complete a bowel movement.

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If you go to Gutsense.org, and read what the crazy Russian has to say about poop and all its possible variations, you'll get a very different picture than the people who just say, "more fiber, more water, more veggies".

He wrote a book called "Fiber Menace". It's hilarious. On the cover is a white cereal bowl with bright brass wood screws in it.

He says: you don't make wetter poop by drinking more water. Poop is wet because it's mostly bacteria.

If you poop little rocks, it's because your guts are nearly depopulated. It's called "dysbacteriosis" and you need to get the flora reestablished.

He says that fiber can form clots and clog up things, and that this is sometimes the cause of female problems, and also of prostate propblems -- the whole area is congested by compacted crap which takes a month to get out.

He points out (!) that poops are really made of bacteria (or should be), not just food residue from fiber. He points out that babies will poop several times a day, when they have not had a single speck of fiber in their lives.

He is willing to settle for type 4, but he prefers type 5 -- lots of little soft poops which come out with no effort.

Funny, people talk about more and more veggies (which gas me up something fierce) but they don't mention probiotics -- kim chee, apple cider vinegar, real live sauerkraut, well-made yogurt, kombucha. The more of these I use, the better things go.

If I more or less follow his ideas, I sometimes have the type 5, lots of little soft poops which comes out fast and effortlessly, without straining. If I have too many nuts (roasted filberts are my present temptation) I get the runs. If I have magnesium by mouth in any form, I get cramps and diarrhea. Essentially, all oral magnesium is Epsom Salts for me. If I eat those damned healthy veggies, especially the cooked cabbage family, I get bowel cramps and smelly gas. It's horrid. Healthy eating ........... I'll give you healthy eating! I think that people come in different types. Some do fine on 10 servings of veggies a day. I do better with some cheese, or meat, or eggs, or fish with almost everything, and only small servings of veg or salads. And I eat cabbage either raw (in moderation) or fermented. Cabbage soup ---- you wouldn't want to be in the same room with me, plus I'd be grumpy as all get out.

And I'm 64, and still have all the original equipment. I had to wait till 56 to lose the dratted period, but eventually it relents. Then it's nice to still have what was meant to be there. I used some progesterone cream, was all. Menopause was easy, a snap, really.

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Interesting - and bleedin' 'ell (pun kinda intended - 'cos I bet it was, wasn't it...?)) 56...?! My mother stopped when she was about 48...(you're a couple of years older than my mum - no idea why I just said that!)

And filberts - I have an idea they're what we call 'sweet' chestnuts (you often see them being roasted on braziers or in ovens on street corners from about Halloween onwards (until xmas). I love 'em too! Nothing like a bag of chestnuts for warming ya up on Bonfire Night!

La tristesse durera toujours...

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If you go to Gutsense.org, and read what the crazy Russian has to say about poop and all its possible variations, you'll get a very different picture than the people who just say, "more fiber, more water, more veggies".

He wrote a book called "Fiber Menace". It's hilarious. On the cover is a white cereal bowl with bright brass wood screws in it.

He says: you don't make wetter poop by drinking more water. Poop is wet because it's mostly bacteria.

If you poop little rocks, it's because your guts are nearly depopulated. It's called "dysbacteriosis" and you need to get the flora reestablished.

He says that fiber can form clots and clog up things, and that this is sometimes the cause of female problems, and also of prostate propblems -- the whole area is congested by compacted crap which takes a month to get out.

He points out (!) that poops are really made of bacteria (or should be), not just food residue from fiber. He points out that babies will poop several times a day, when they have not had a single speck of fiber in their lives.

He is willing to settle for type 4, but he prefers type 5 -- lots of little soft poops which come out with no effort.

Funny, people talk about more and more veggies (which gas me up something fierce) but they don't mention probiotics -- kim chee, apple cider vinegar, real live sauerkraut, well-made yogurt, kombucha. The more of these I use, the better things go.

this guy is a legend - Fibre Menace is about as eye opening as the first time you read Primal Blueprint!

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I vacillate in my poops. SOmetimes type 2, but mostly type 4. I have noticed if I try to go when my body has not signalled for me to go I get type 1-2. If I wait pateintly until my gut says, 'you need to poop' I have type 4s consistently. So, I don't try to make myself go anymore, even if it means i have to wait 2 days. I figure I just poop differently.

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Hmmm, looking at the picture again, it may be more that my ones i am trying to force out are type 5s but jus tnot ready to make an appearance. They don't hurt when they come out, they just want to stay in. They are not hard balls, but more of smaller nuggets. Hmmmm, too much thought on this one...lol

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Man, some days, like this morning, I woke up feeling horrid with stomach cramps, and a need to poo badly but unable to, until eventually after a while I could get it out, and I think it was watery and stuff... then I had cramps for a while more until that could happen again. Now I feel fine (but it made me miss my morning workout, because I sure wasn't going to squat feeling like that... I'll make it up tonight).

But why?

Okay, I am sure it had something to do with the fact that I ate way way too much last night. Made a pot of green curry beef, coconut milk, green curry paste, grass fed beef, eggplant, orange pepper, and chilis. It was spicy. It was probably also two meals worth... but I was greedy and ate it all to the point where my stomach was distended greatly and I felt like a balloon etc.

So that didn't help, I'm sure.

But I eat sauerkraut with my eggs most mornings.
I eat salads almost every day for lunch.
Surely these things must help?

Sigh...

Any thoughts?

This doesn't happen every day, but it has certainly happened a few times to me (not always accompanied by overeating).

"Thanks to the combination of meat, calcium-rich leaf foods, and a vigorous life, the early hunter-gatherers were robust, with strong skeletons, jaws, and teeth." - Harold McGee, On Food And Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen